I Remember Every Little Thing
by istytehcrawk
Summary: A familiar tune coming from Kurt's room takes Burt back to the first time he saw Elizabeth.


Burt Hummel was sentimental, to be sure, but he wasn't usually a crier. That said, the first time he heard those oh-so-familiar notes pouring out through the crack of Kurt's bedroom door, he was so caught off-guard he had to brace himself against the wall so he wouldn't fall over. His cheeks were wet before he even realized he was crying.

He hadn't listened to that song, or any Meatloaf song for that matter, since Elizabeth died. It was too painful. As far as he knew, Kurt was unaware of the song's significance, and he made a mental note to tell him that story soon. Not at that moment, but soon. First, he needed a beer, his heart be damned.

Carole knew the importance of that song. She'd known since the day they'd unpacked her CD collection when she and Finn first moved in. Burt had grabbed a stack of CDs, only to find that the top one was _Bat Out of Hell_. He had set the rest of the CDs on the table and slumped into his chair, staring silently at the case in his hands. Carole had walked up, kissed the top of his head, and said, "Let me guess. Your song's on there?" He nodded, and then he told her the tale of the vivacious brunette who never stopped singing, until she did.

(When he was finished, Carole explained what Finn had told her – the New Directions were planning to perform that song at Nationals, and Kurt and Blaine, as well as Santana and Brittany, were going to get to dance together for it, in front of thousands of people. Progress was coming, however slowly.)

The next time Burt heard the song escaping Kurt's room was just a few days after the first, and, judging by the ridiculous amount of giggling and thumping he hears, he guessed they had moved on to practicing the choreography. He heard a thud, knocked twice in rapid succession, then pushed the the door open, smiling when he saw the scene before him: apparently Kurt had tripped Blaine, because they were crumpled together on the floor near the foot of Kurt's bed, with Blaine rubbing his shin with one hand and smacking Kurt playfully on the shoulder with the other. Kurt batted his hand away and looked up at Burt, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Hi, Dad. Do we need to turn it down or something?"

"No, it's fine. Actually, do you guys have a few minutes? I want to tell you a story about this song. A story I should have told you a long time ago."

* * *

Burt was smitten nearly immediately when transfer student Elizabeth Kirkland, a contradiction in denim and silk, whirled into the cafeteria his sophomore year of high school, laughing and singing "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" at the top of her lungs with Laura Bishop. Of course, she was beautiful. Tall and slender, but not scrawny. She soon became the top scorer on the soccer team (eventually earning herself an athletic scholarship to OSU), and, much to Burt's chagrin, she started dating his best friend, Chuck, whom she later dumped after finding out he cheated on her with the soccer team captain, of all people.

She and Burt started dating her senior year, not long after he graduated from McKinley. He worked at his father's tire shop and they did the long-distance thing while she attended OSU. He proposed the morning of her graduation from OSU, and they married six months later. Kurt joined the family about three years after that.

Kurt took after her in many ways, physically, but especially his skin tone and gray-blue-green eyes matched hers perfectly. Her hair was a similar radiant chestnut shade to Kurt's, though slightly darker. Thick and wavy, it reached nearly to the small of her back at its longest. (During the day, she usually wore it either in a high ponytail or in a loose side braid, but Burt loved it down, so she always took it down in the evening.)

Lizzie was tender and motherly, and loved Kurt – and Burt – with everything she had, but throughout their marriage he was drawn to her because of the same qualities that he'd fallen in love with from the start: her enthusiasm for life, and her absolute joy that never faltered. She was sweet but feisty, and she had a habit of hiding things around the house – sometimes hiding them _from_ Burt (like his favorite baseball cap) just to drive him a little crazy, and sometimes hiding them _for_ Burt (like little love notes in his lunch) to make sure he knew she supported him.

There was always music playing, loudly, when Lizzie was around. She liked it all, from oldies and show tunes to Mellencamp and all that boy band crap Burt hated so much. She said their song was Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," to which they had their first dance at her senior prom, but Burt insisted it was "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." She thought it was sweet, even though her only memory of that day is a vague recollection of singing _something_ with Laura, so she doesn't argue with him about it. (Much.) She often said she couldn't help but wonder what it said about their relationship that one of their songs was about sex and teenage romance gone wrong.

* * *

Burt couldn't take his eyes off the stage where his son and his boyfriend were having a blast, belting out the song that, so many years ago, brought a whirlwind of a woman crashing into his life. He glanced over at Carole, who simply squeezed his hand in reassurance and politely ignored the increasing wetness of his eyes.

When they got home, he put Carole's Meatloaf CD on repeat, and they danced.


End file.
